The People's Business: Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy

This is a shorter version of my review published in the journal, Personnel Psychology. I have read a number of recent, very good books about the corporate threat to our democracy. Their common theme, like that of the book by Drutman and Cray, is that large, publicly traded corporations, the "corpocracy," have preempted our sovereignty and control and exploit for selfish interests and often very detrimentally so every aspect of our lives. What more then, you might ask, could be learned from the present book? What sets it apart from the rest I think is first the broader array of reforms it proposes and second that it draws upon the collective wisdom of over 40 scholars and prominent activists commissioned by Citizen Works. It is the non-profit, non-partisan organization founded by Ralph Nader to develop and promote corporate reform proposals. Mr. Nader himself served on the commission. The two authors also served on the commission. While they state that its other members bear no responsibility for the book's specific conclusions, all members endorsed the book, and it is referred to by Mr. Nader and the authors as the commission's report. I think it was a wise decision not to issue a report per se but instead to have a more readable, more comprehensive, and possibly a more influential book written. The intent of the book is to provide an understanding of corporate power and a guide for activists to follow in pursuing the reforms proposed in the book. It is full of so many proposals that it would have been helpful if they had been listed in a table preferably at the book's beginning and in a descending order of priority or feasibility. The titles of the six chapters nevertheless do serve somewhat as a list of specific targets of reform and for the most part adequately convey each chapter's topic such as "cracking down on corporate crime." That only this chapter discusses corporate crime underscores the fact that citizen sovereignty was not turned over to the corpocracy at gunpoint and that most corporate wrongdoing is legal wrongdoing. One or the other branch or level of government has shamefully patronized big business and acquiesced to it in one way or another over the years. This is precisely what the framers of our constitution did not want to happen. But instead of requiring federal chartering of corporations to ensure they meet some bona fide public purpose and operate under public oversight, the framers decided the states should carry out the function as they saw fit. Although charters were initially issued with stringent controls, the states soon began, as the authors graphically put it, "a race to the bottom" to attract new business. As a consequence, state charters are a sham. The authors tell how anti-tobacco activists a few years ago, to dramatize their point, easily got a charter for a new tobacco ompany, "Licensed to Kill, Inc.," even though it was clearly stated in the articles of incorporation that the company's purpose would

Two Biggest Problems Facing America: Out-of-Control Corporatism & Blind Militarism This book performs the crucial service of organizing and structuring our thoughts about the seemingly remote possibility of popular containment of the pervasive and widespread corporate abuse, which has devastated our lives and now poses a very real threat to the continuation of human life as a whole. How do we pressure Congress (predominantly bought and signed for by the corps) to even begin to introduce the topic of corporate reform in legislative discussion? This challenge, the argument here, well grounded in fact, takes up. The authors list seven basic strategies: 1. Crack Down on Corporate Crime A permanent, well-funded and staffed corporate crime division should be established within the Justice Department. Budgets for Justice Dept agencies responsible for pursuing corporate criminals such as the SEC should be beefed up. An annual corporate crime report equivalent to the one the FBI produces on street crime should be generated. Federal acquisition regulations should be tightened so lawbreaking corporations do not receive any fraction of the $265 billion worth of government contracts given out each year. 2. Rein in the Imperial CEO's Warren Buffett once suggested that willingness to curb excessive CEO pay is "the acid test of corporate reform." Yet the ratio of average large company CEO pay ($11.8 million) to average worker pay ($27,460) spiked from 301 to 1 in 2003 to 403 to 1 in 2004. While Wal-Mart paid CEO Lee Scott 871 times what it paid the average "associate," the ratio between executive and worker pay in Europe hovers closer to 25 to 1. In 1982 the ratio at US corporations was about 42 to1; by 2000 it had spiraled to about 525 to 1. The SEC should give shareholders - the true owners of the corporations - the right to curb out-of-control executive pay packages, which often expand while the companies' earnings and performance decline. Representative Martin Sabo in July 2005 introduced the Income Equity Act, which would eliminate tax deductions for executive compensation exceeding twenty-five times that of the company's lowest-paid full-time employee. 3. Shore Up the Civil Justice System This strategy stands in direct opposition to the current trend of "tort reform" legislation now pouring through Congress. One of the lost lessons of Enron and other corporate crime scandals is how Washington's deregulation created an incentive for the market system's professional "gatekeepers" - the accountants, bankers, and attorneys - to avoid their responsibilities and, in some cases, even aid and abet the fraud. "Tort-reform" type legislation, such as the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) of 1995, weakening the ability of shareholder victims of corporate fraud to sue, embolden the corporate perpetrators of such frauds to cook the books. So-called "tort-reform" provides incentive for even further corporate abuse - and although the facts

As a survivor of hidden government experiments and an investigator of what is hidden behind the scenes, I have to recommend this book to everyone serious about discovering and acknowledging truth. Kudos to the authors for a brave stand. When the populace is willing to see whether or not the emperor has clothes, books like this will be a formidable tool in rebuilding a truly free democracy. Dixie Waldrip, author, Hide and Go Seek; Searching for Me

To one extent or another, regardless of your politics, everyone shares the dread sense that too many large corporations are out of control these days - stifling competition, buying up our politicians, and driving down the quality of life for their employees, consumers and the communities in which they are based. In this book Drutman and Cray do a fine job of exploring contemporary indicators of corporate excess. Then they go an extra lap and explain how the history of the corporation in America holds the key to understanding what can be done now. The book reminds me of some of William Greider's work, such as Who Will Tell The People. More than the usual polemic against big business, The People's Business makes clear that with the tools available to us in this democracy, we can restore the corporation to its proper place in service to our society. This idea is as old as the founding fathers, and as fresh as pages of this great new book.

This book tells the truth about the unseemly influence corporations have over our everyday lives. But it also provides a road map to reclaim that power. It reminds us that there is such a thing as a social contract and corporations are grossly out of compliance with that contract. It's empowering to read an analysis that provides a well documented critique but also offers vision and hope. Whether you're just buying a car or paying your utility bills you need to read this book. It suggests hope for democracy and not the hypocritical George Bush brand but an economic democracy where people can regain control over the largest part of their lives, their economic lives.